Essex (LHD 2) - Naval Cruise Book

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iiM£ y jL -: ' ».- siP CLOCKWISE from upper left: Polynesian dancers put on a great show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Koko Head Lighthouse on Oahu. The USS Missouri (BB-63) rests next to the USS Arizona (BB-39) Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Chaplain Logan takes in one of Oahu ' s beautiful beaches. Three of ESSEX ' finest posing on another of Oahu ' s picturesque white sand beaches on the North Shore. Scenes like this can only be found in the paradise called Hawaii!

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History of Iwo Jima: Following the Allied invasion of the Philippines in October 1944, the United States was ready to begin its drive towards the home islands of Japan One of the most important islands we needed to capture was Iwo Jima, (Japanese for ' Island of Sulfur ' ) a forbidding rock of volcanic ash only eight square miles in area. The island was very heavily defended by over 22,000 Japanese troops and strongly fortified against invasion. On February 16, 1945 , a force of eleven American battle- ships and cruisers , supported by carrier-based aircraft , began pounding targets